Introduction

In 1954, the Institute of Christian Education produced a report, Religious Education in Schools, to assess the working of the religious education clauses of the Act after the first ten years. In 1964 the ‘image’ of the Christian theologian was John Robinson, Bishop of Woolwich. This was by no means without its implications for religious education. The publication of Honest to God in 1963 was followed —as is well known—by a deluge of other books, pamphlets and articles. 1964 also revealed some clear signs of questioning dissatisfaction within the field of religious education itself. The publication of Dr R. Goldman’s book, Religious Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence aggravated the doubts many teachers of young children had long felt about the effectiveness of much of the religious education in the junior school. The religious education clauses of the Education Act passed into law at a time of high national purpose and idealism.